Buildings, such as houses, typically have foundations made from various types. Slab foundations may be used in which anchor bolts or MSA anchors are embedded into a concrete slab and have a bottom plate attached thereto. The bottom plate is the portion of the foundation onto which vertical members such as the walls of the structure are attached. Alternative arrangements are possible in which a sill anchor is embedded in the slab and is nailed into the bottom plate in order to hold the bottom plate in place. Another foundation type commonly employed is found in the construction of vinyl sided homes. These foundations include a brick foundation wall reinforced along its length by a plurality of piers. The sill is located on top of the brick foundation wall. A third type of building foundation is found in homes made of brick. Here, a foundation wall made of concrete blocks rests behind a face brick wall that makes up the exposed, viewable side of the house. The sill is located on top of the concrete wall.
The foundations in brick homes generally include a bond beam that makes up the top portion of the foundation wall. The upper cells of the foundation wall define a U-shaped channel that runs the length of the foundation wall. A horizontally oriented piece of rebar is disposed in and runs the length of the U-shaped channel. Grout is poured into the U-shaped channel to complete formation of the bond beam which in turn strengthens the resulting foundation. Although capable of strengthening a building foundation, bond beams are problematic in that they increase the amount of labor and cost associated in building the resulting foundation. Additionally, the bond beam is usually inspected prior to allowing a framer to begin construction on top of the sill. Such an inspection of the bond beam increases the cost of construction and can cause delays in finishing.
It is also known to employ seismic straps in building foundations in order to provide strength during shaking of the house in an earthquake. A typical seismic strap is a galvanized steel member 3/16 inches thick and 2 inches wide. The seismic strap is embedded in the concrete footing of the building foundation and runs vertically through an aligned series of cells of the concrete foundation wall. The seismic strap emerges from the top of the foundation wall and is nailed into the sill. A series of seismic straps can be present along the length of the foundation wall and spaced no greater than 6 feet on center from one another and 1 foot from the corners in various designs. When used in foundations for vinyl sided homes, a pair of seismic straps are included in every pier.
Although suitable for their intended purpose, seismic straps are problematic in that the mason must, when building the concrete foundation wall, maneuver concrete cells around the seismic straps. Further, the seismic straps must be precisely positioned in order for the aligned series of cells to be properly disposed around the seismic straps across the entire length of the foundation wall. An error in spacing of either the seismic straps or the cells will require the mason break one or more cells in order to complete construction of the foundation wall. The use of seismic straps may therefore result in the loss of time and money and could potentially result in a foundation that is not structurally sound. Additionally, seismic straps are generally formed via a stamping process that results in sharp edges along the sides and top thereof. Sharp edges of this sort cause injury to workers in construction of the foundation wall. Further, the sharp edges have a tendency to cut string positioned along the foundation wall that is used when laying concrete block. The cost and time of construction of foundation walls thus occur. Accordingly, there remains room for variation and improvement within the art.